The Ax Survival Card by Crate Club

The Ax Survival Card is a testament to human creativity. How many tools can you shove into something the height and width of a credit card, but only a little thicker? The Ax portion is the star of the show, but the tool also works as the following:

Scraper

Pry Bar

Knife

Can Opener

Box Opener

Cord Cutter

Bottle Opener

02 Wrench

Set of Small Wrenches

Arrow

Screwdriver

1/4 hex bit driver

A Tool to find distances

Sundial Clock

Sundial Compass

Protractor

Metric Ruler

Inch Ruler

This is an all in one small card built to be easy to carry and fit among your survival kit. The Crate Club Ax Survival card shoves a lot in a small package. That being said a lot of them can’t be used at the same time. If you decide to build an ax or an arrow you lose access to some of the tools.

You can’t give me an ax head without expecting to try and build an ax. I like building weapons, from rifles and handguns to this ax. I’ll wear out an 80 lower jig with a few lower receivers. I admittedly didn’t try many of the other tools and some are pretty hard to mess up. Like the bottle opener.

I tempted fate and used the card as a pry bar and unfortunately, it’s a bit thin for most moderate to heavy uses. The screwdriver works for exterior screws but they are sunk in a bit expect them to be difficult to remove. The cord cutter is excessively sharp and chewed through 550 cord without issue.

The blade that makes up the knife and ax head is also quite sharp. Without a handle, it’s somewhat tough and uncomfortable to hold, but it cuts. Opening cans is a slow process, and I got about halfway through a can of baked beans before I quit. It’ll get you there, but you’ll need to be patient.

The biggest problem is trying not to get poked or prodded by the other tools as you work, but what can you expect from showing this many tools into a credit card sized package?

How to build an Ax with the Ax Survival Card

Step 1 is to find a stick that’s at least 3/4s of an inch thick. Then you need a rock or something. Seriously, a tree can work too. You need this rock or tree to split the stick. It’s obvious which end is for the ax and this is what you’ll use to split the stick. Beat the ax head into the stick a few inches. The split needs to be a bit longer than the body of the ax head. Once the split is made you need to remove the blade, and then reinsert the card with the ax head facing outward.

It will take some coxing and wiggling, but it shouldn’t take long. Once it’s in place it should be snug, but you’ll want to lash it with 550 cord through the various holes available. Tie it down tight. When lashing, I started on the side, created an X going through the different lashing points on the card and repeated that pattern.

I then tied it off and burnt the ends. This seemed to work perfectly because that ax head isn’t moving. To test it I beat a thick oak with a dozen hard swings. The ax head stayed in place without issue. As you’d imagine this is a very lightweight setup. It’s not going to fell a tree or split wood anytime soon.

Using the Ax

It makes a good tool for clearing brush and making a campsite, and it also chews through most minor roots while digging easily enough. The Ax has enough oomph to it to be a good weapon and with a good solid hit, you’ll be able to dissuade snakes, pests, and even a two-legged vermin if need be.

It works like an ax but is more like a pocket knife in terms of size. It has a small head, but you can create a lot of additional leverage with the handle. This can make cleaning game easier, especially removing the heads from small critters to make cleaning them easy.

It will chop through most branches and you can even baton smaller logs with it. Best of all, it hardly weighs anything. It’s utilitarian in nature and won’t replace a standard ax or hatchet. It will provide you with a near weightless tool to chop and cut as you see fit.

Despite having the ability to be used in a multitude of scenarios as a variety of different tools, rendering it an ax may take that accessibility away — but all you’ve got to do is take it apart to regain that accessibility. The Crate Club Survival Ax Card is a unique and very cool tool for survival tasks. It slices, dices, chops and so much more.

Share This

About the Author

Travis Pike
Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine gunner who served with 2nd Bn 2nd Marines for 5 years. He deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan and again in 2011 with the 22nd MEU(SOC) during a record setting 11 months at sea. He’s trained with the Romanian Army, the Spanish Marines, the Emirate Marines and the Afghan National Army. He serves as an NRA certified pistol instructor and teaches concealed carry classes.